2024

 

December 2024

Well, that’s a helluva note.

A general comment applicable to the year, I think.  Shall I just sign off now?  Nope. I actually have something positive, lovely and hopeful to send along - see page three.

How about I talk about the weather?

In late 2023 I signed a contract for snow removal for most of the winter as Karen and I planned to travel to NZ to visit family there.  Was it $400 a month?  Something like that.  Snow total was maybe 4 inches in total, maybe 7 all winter. $$$!  We then had lots of spring and early summer rain and then drought returned in August and September. This year we have a young neighbor who will handle the snow with a $/# of inches/days formula. His eyes got big thinking about all the money he hopes to earn. 

How about I talk about seed art?

My former colleague and friend Laura Melnick and her husband, Mark Dahlager, have been getting blue ribbons at the MN State Fair for many years for their seed art.  Funny political themes and clever designs.  Then I see this: Making Masterpieces With Elmer’s Glue and Mustard Seeds - The New York Times.  Wow!  I should add that our neighbor and Mark’s co-worker, Pat, is a frequent blue ribbon winner for the fruits he grows in the neighborhood garden.

How about I talk about movies?

I’ve gone to very few movies since COVID and not a lot before then. I saw three in the past month or two:  Megalopolis is an over-done but still interesting science fiction by F.F. Coppola that borrows from everything, including the soliloquy from Hamlet, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire,  Fox News, etc. Too many ideas and too much money.  

Anora, a Palme D’Or winner by Sean Baker, the guy who did the fantastic The Florida Project some years back.  A Paris Review analysis says Anora is a weird rom-com in part and another of Baker’s movies showing that all workers are deserving of respect, including sex workers and enforcers, in this case.  I think that’s right.  The title character is portrayed by Mikey Madison,who is on screen 95% of the time.  She’s a sex worker in Brooklyn, NYC who gets mixed up with a son of a superrich Russian oligarch. No question but that she has a beautiful and sexy body and great athleticism. Yeah. Her appeal is enhanced by a face that is not quite classically Hollywood beautiful.  She does a great job in a challenging role - it would be easy to be captivated solely by her beauty but she gets the character through after just a few minutes on screen.  As I think back on the film and read more analysis, I like it more and more. Other actors also transcend stereotypes and the locations in Brooklyn and Las Vegas make for chaotic and interesting backdrops. I was prepared to hate it (the story line) because of the plot/action in the final minute, but there was a simple turn in the last fifteen seconds that reversed my feelings. Yeah, the film exploits Madison’s body and plays to male gaze and fantasies. But it accomplishes a lot more than that.

And Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat, is a Belgian documentary focused on the Belgian/U.S./U.N. conspiracy that resulted in the murder of Congo’s leader for independence and Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. This happened  in 1961 about 5 months after Congo nominally gained independence from Belgium. The soundtrack is provided in part by Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, black radical jazz musicians, who, with others, invaded the U.N. Security Council shortly after the execution of Lumumba. They protested the western-sponsored civil war that killed many and aimed, successfully, to keep precious metals and uranium flowing to western bloc companies.  Other parts of the sound track include contemporary footage of Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and others who were traveling the world as State Department cultural emissaries and soft-power camouflage for deadly activities. It stated that Armstrong was so angry when he figured this out that he nearly moved to Ghana.  Most disconcerting was the powerful role of Nikita Kruschev who, with a smile, led the Soviet bloc and newly admitted African countries as they rhythmically beat on their desks to protest U.N. “peace keepers” actions in maintaining colonialism. The Soviet leader comes across as a hero, in his words at least, and this sets up a strain between my memory of the news of the time, the content of his speeches supporting national liberation, and what is going on with the new imperialism of Russia and its Wagner Group throughout Africa.  Malcolm X, Fidel Castro, the Dulles brothers (State and CIA), Renee Magritte, King Baudouin (no mere ceremonial role for him), and Dag Hammarskjold all make their marks. Lesser known conspirators, victims and protesters make appearances as do a dozen U.S. and African jazz musicians in performance.  I knew some general historical facts about this but left the show depressed and angry. Congolese people suffered horribly under the imposed dictatorship of Mobuto from 1961 until 1996, though the movie ends in 1961.

I am saving the best for last and you must watch it. 

A neighbor died recently.  I've said hello a hundred times to Carl but am ashamed to say, never introduced myself. If you watch this video, I guarantee that you will feel really good and you can become a better person under the influence of Mr. Positive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy6DczHLVGM&authuser=0

If I believed in saints, Carl B. would be one. And what about Ms. Risdahl who cared for 150 foster children and took Carl in when Minnesota finally started finding real homes for disabled people? She was his friend until she died at age 101. Carl was imprisoned and neglected at Cambridge State Hospital until age 4 1/2 and was brought out for placement in leather restraints and under heavy psychotropics. At age 4 ½ years! Ms. Risdahl tossed those and brought him to speech therapy until he finally learned to speak at age 7. He worked in a school and the kids may have learned more from him than any teacher. With neighbors' help, he even bought his home. Carl helped everyone in the neighborhood. He was a fabulous cyclist and must have had very strong legs as he tackled the steep hills of St Paul. Would our world have been a much poorer place without this man? YES. 

Give thanks to my colleagues at Legal Aid, who brought a deinstitutionalization lawsuit for Carl and others and still work every day to give people like him a chance to live happy, productive and giving lives.

Do not miss that video!

Continuing on the arts theme.

I have read a lot this year.  Middlemarch (Eliot); Anniversaries, Vol. 1 (Johnson); The Hunter (French); Biography of Virginia Woolf (Quentin Bell); The March (Doctorow); The Black Ice (Connelly); Normal People (Rooney) and many more of both high and low brow natures. Listening to The Anxious Generation (Haidt) now and I heartily endorse this take on internet-enabled cell phones’ very dangerous reworking of kids’ brains and our social architectures.  And Thinking, Fast and Slow by Kahneman as it helps understand how bad decisions come about oh so easily. Like in November.

Yes, I am still writing.  No poetry to speak of.  My first movie reviews (see above.)  Some music appreciations.  

My extended “vocational memoir” has a possible “home” at a site that focuses on legal aid history. It includes oral histories of prominent persons with roles in legal services. For example you may have heard of: Hillary Rodham Clinton oral history, 1991. No guarantees but I was encouraged to “cut, cut, cut and we’ll take another look.” I’m close to feeling it is ready.

I have made progress on a novel. Well You Needn’t is the most recent title. That is aThelonious Monk title I am borrowing. 

A synopsis: 

A chance encounter on the Queen Mary luxury liner-cum-troop ship during WWII connects a bomber pilot, Jed Wilson, with a woman, Pannonica, also a flier, who gave up an aristocratic life to immerse herself into and knit safety nets for the vulnerable leaders of jazz in New York City.  

Later, an assistant prosecutor in central New Jersey, Jed answers one and then another of her calls for assistance and affection.  Wilson too comes to love Nica, who having been parted from her family, is a woman who fights all social strictures, builds a new family of her choosing. Charlie Parker, a Cuban refugee, the Monks, Jed and his step-children and his wife, Chris are part of it. He comes to a deep appreciation for the unconventional, syncopated piano playing of Monk and a better yet imperfect understanding of his own ambivalences towards faith, defining justice, love and his privileged life.  

Jed and Nica escape the real explosions and the social detonations that frequently threaten both what they value and those who they love. After a decade and a half of jam sessions and gigs and layoffs and segues and intrigues in their unconventional relationship, Pannonica calls on Jed for a final rescue mission that ends up transforming  all their lives.

I enjoy our writing group - it helps me progress on my projects but mainly it's a good chance to expand my circle of friends. Maybe my comments help others’ efforts when we get together a few times a month. Scheduling such things is the way to go as otherwise they don’t happen.  So Wednesday coffees, 1st Tuesday breakfasts and this group are very good.  

You can guess my opinions about our recent elections.  I think I was slightly buffered by having worked for 15 hours  as an election judge on November 5 with a crew of hard-working and politically varied people.  Experiencing this nitty gritty and cooperative democratic work gave me something good to take away.  

I had thought I might write up some points where I see points of connection between MAGA voters and horrified people who struggle to understand why almost half of the participating voters chose such a man as President. (That’s 32% of eligible voters.)  I think there are such points but will put that off for a while. 

I’ve cycled a lot but not far.  Under 4000 for 2024, more than the last few years but not what I’d like to do. The gym at the Y is an inadequate substitute but better than nothing when it's too cold to ride.  

I did get in one ride in Auckland NZ when Karen and I spent two months there.  Sara, Don, Lily, Lachlann invited us to spend two weeks in two nice vacation spots. I stayed at one vacation rental and had pizza with the kids when Karen, Don and Sara went to the Craggy Range winery/restaurant for a lovely dinner in a lovely spot. Two weeks later, the most admirable Jacinta Arden, until recently NZ’s Prime Minister, was married there. If you like sauvignon blanc, the excellent Craggy Range wine is found in Minnesota and is not too pricey.  After these stays we hung out in Auckland with them, their cats, their AFS student and neighbors. Because of accessibility needs and considering the chance that we might become tedious guests, we stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes from their home. The kids and neighbor kids did like having a pool to visit.

I just learned that even the conservative NZ proponent of legislation that would undercut efforts to boost Maori culture and self-sufficiency agreed that a 2014 Tribunal ruling settled that Maori’s are entitled to sovereignty over 90% of the South Island under the treaties from the 1800s is settled law. The Tribunal examined the treaties from the perspective of the indigenous parties’ understanding of the time, not just the settlers’ subsequent interpretations and appropriations.  

I wonder if my friend Patricia Bellanger learned of this before she passed away in 2015? Pat was a founder of the International Indian Treaty Council, activist at the United Nations and advocate for indigenous people around the world and friend of Maori leaders  (A remarkable person, a tribute to Pat is found on my blog.)

Speaking of remarkable people, keep your eyes and ears open for Ryan Novak, a nephew’s son who loves ice hockey.  His dad tells us that his slap shot at age 7 travels upwards of 80 mph and that other kids skate away from the goal when he winds up. We’re not much of a sporty family, though our son-law-law was at one time a near-Olympic level cross-country skier. And Matthew’s crew placed high amongst the teens competing at The Head of The Charles competition. I was a member of, but did not play in the final, with the 1968 state soccer champions, the Proctor (VT) Phantoms. Lachlann has taken up rugby; I’m sure he’ll give it a good “try.” We’ll see a top level pro rugby game with some cousins when we next visit. Go Blues! 

Matthew, Courtney, Mara and Molly are all good. They’ve had dog troubles, one passed on due to the infirmities of old age. Two tangled with a porcupine and Carlo had a severe eye injury but is recovering. Ouch! Mara’s doing well in school and Molly is eagerly treading on her heels. Take your time girl!  Molly, four years old, almost entirely skipped the training wheels stage and is a daring enthusiastic cyclist.  Mara is too, but not as excited as Molly. Courtney is working at the public charter school where the girls are/will be. I forget whether she is teaching or doing social work there this year as she has done both.  Matthew is going back to college to develop a computer security speciality.  He told his boss he was leaving the security tech installation job but could come in and help out in an emergency.  His boss told him, “Well, then, just hold onto the keys and company credit card.” That’s a positive job review.  

I don’t hear much detail about Don’s work but was interested to hear that they get people in for surgery from all around the South Pacific as well as all of NZ.  It is a small country and they provide universal health care.  He says that people don’t understand how thin the blanket coverage is. And the NZ economy is struggling and a conservative government wants to cut taxes and… Sara is working on investigations of charges of unethical conduct of lawyers. She sent me a recent decision on a case involving “defalcation” of a client’s money by a now-ex-lawyer. Love that word, “defalcation.”  

Lily and Lachlann are doing well though they are now missing returned AFS student Julia and as well as their friends next door who are leaving Auckland. Lily went on her first Girl Guide overnight camping trip recently.  We look forward to seeing them again before too long.

I volunteer with and serve on the Board of NNfS: https://www.neighborhoodnetworkforseniors.org/.  We link volunteers with elders so they can stay in their homes. We need more volunteers and can help more seniors.  Sign up!

You may face mandatory minimum distributions (RMDs) from your 401k or IRA retirement plans.  You can satisfy those requirements by sending money from your plan directly payable to a charity like NNFS.  For most people tax deductions for charitable donations don’t work any more but this is the equivalent of a tax deductible donation. If $$ goes from your retirement account to the charity directly, you are not taxed in  the federal system. 

By the way, this is surely not legal advice. Consult your own lawyers and tax advisors. As of October 1, 2024 I am no longer licensed to practice law. Anywhere. Forty six years. Closed out my last volunteer case in June. 

Sadly, our brother-in-law, Tom Novak, Karen’s sister Nancy’s husband, passed away this autumn. He was about our age and had had declining health for several years and lived in the Phoenix area at the time.  Tom was a cheerful and happy fellow, did such nice work as a gardener in retirement and was a wonderful granddad. .

We’ve had some nice visits with folks here, including Karen’s Evanston elementary school friends, Don’s sister Rebekkah and her friend Rob, who came in for the Vikings vs. Bears game this month. Meals and fun gatherings with Karen’s sisters, Cristina and Tonio and their relations. Semi-regular lunches and dinners with Dave, Deb, Julie and Dick. Drop-bys with Becky, John, Yusef and the Flamingo Friday neighborhood happy hours. 

I have to say that my favorite is my three year old buddy, Louis.  He comes frequently, especially when the cherry tomatoes have ripened. One day he headed home and called back over his shoulder:  “Let me know if you need any help, Jay and Karen. I’m right next door.”

Well, friends and family, I am not a New Years Resolution kinda guy.  But if I were, you couldn’t improve on “Be More Like Carl and Louis!”  

We hope you and yours are well and that we all do more to help our communities in the coming year.

Jay and Karen